Restaurant Industry must heed law in World Cup marketing

9th June 2010, 2:36pm

As excitement mounts around the World Cup, the restaurant industry will quite rightly be looking for ways to cleverly associate themselves with the event in an effort to boost sales.

But businesses are warned against kicking off any footie-inspired marketing plans without first paying attention to the law if they are to protect themselves from inadvertently breaking copyright and infringement laws.

Intellectual property expert and partner at City law firm GSC Clive Halperin provides a breakdown on what's safe and what's too risky.

What a business can do
• Refer to the World Cup (as long as there is no suggestion of FIFA involvement or endorsement)
• Use national flags or imagery such as the St George's Cross
• Use photographs of players and stadiums with permission of the copyright owner (but you will need additional permissions if there are any suggestions of endorsement or if the photos incorporate club or country logos)
• Use photographs of officially licensed merchandise to promote the sale of those goods (e.g. you can use a photo of an official video game to promote that game but you must not give the impression that you too are an official sponsor)

What a business can't do
• Use any FA or FIFA logos or mascots without getting a special license
• Give any impression that you are an official supplier
• Give any impression that you are being endorsed or recommended by FIFA, the FA or individual players
• Mislead any consumers, for example, by falling foul of any prohibitions on misleading advertisements.
• Use marketing that is defamatory (e.g. unfairly disparage a player)

Using the term "World Cup"
Businesses can promote their products or services using the phrase "World Cup" but as it's a registered trademark, the phrase "World Cup" must be used with extreme care. The key is avoiding any suggestion that FIFA are involved with or endorsing the promotion or the products.

For example, a pub sign promoting that World Cup games will be shown in the pub will be acceptable, provided there is no suggestion that FIFA are endorsing the pub. However, a banner that says "FIFA World Cup" may land you in trouble because it may suggest that FIFA are involved in the promotion.

T-shirts with the words 'World Cup' on it may be fine if it is not suggesting official involvement or endorsement (such as "My mate went to the World Cup and all he brought back was this shirt"). However, it will be an infringement to reproduce or suggest that the clothing is official merchandise liked with the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Using World Cup images such as the World Cup trophy
Using an image of the World Cup trophy, the three lions logo or even the word 'FIFA' could very likely lead businesses into trouble. Businesses mustn't use any branding that could be confused with such authorities or teams unless you have a license.

Using photographs and logos
Even if you have licensed a photograph of a player, this does not mean that you can use his image to promote your product. TalkSport Radio ran into trouble when they used a photograph of a well-known Formula 1 driver without the proper permissions.

Club and country logos may have strict copyright protection stopping you using even photographs of the players in their kit where the logo is an important part of that photograph – football sticker manufacturers have run into this problem in the past.

Related Articles:

• 11 Jun 2010 - Footy fans team up with pubs to tackle beer tax plans

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